Spoon You, Fork Me

specials

We were served seriously big serves
Our stomachs started hurting just seeing our plates being set down on the table
We entertained a lot of elderly diners who marveled at our ability to eat a LOT of food.

Diners today were at The Glenelg Club which is at Glenelg Oval (Gliderol Stadium) on Brighton Rd. Hubby and I just wanted a quick lunch before doing the million other things we had to do that day and it seemed a quick easy place to visit.

Strange to think we’ve never been here before when we live so close. The first thing we noticed was the view of the oval as you walk into the Bistro Doors. It was a really lovely view!

We were there right at the start of the lunch period and only one other table was seated. Before long, many many tables were full and they all had one thing in common; They were full of seniors! The Glenelg Club has 20% off all lunch meals Monday to Friday for seniors. Now that’s a pretty good offer right!

Looking through the menu there were lots of options on there at pretty reasonable prices. They also advertise their weekly specials and I was already thinking about when we could come back before we’d even ordered anything!

After looking through the menu for a long, long time, hubby finally decided he was going to have the Grazers Plate. It was in the starters section and we assumed it was some kind of sharing platter. The menu description didn’t say how many people the plate would reasonably feed so he just figured he’d order it for his main. This was what appeared on the menu
“Southern chicken tenders, spiced lamb skewers, seeded mustard bread, waffle fries, chefs selected dip, olives and Australian feta”

I decided to go for the burger, I know, not very original but it was what I felt like today. I actually would have preferred the steak sandwich but I didn’t like the bread they had that on.

When I ordered the food, the server didn’t say anything. I mentioned that hubby was going to have the grazing plate as his main. She didn’t bat an eyelid. I had no clue at how big this plate was going to be.

We watched other food coming out and it all looked really good so we were looking forward to our own meals.

Finally a server starts walking over to our table with just one dish. It turns out, she had the grazers plate and it was so large, she couldn’t hold two plates. She needed two hands for it and said she’d be right back with my burger.

Hubby, shy thing that he is, was just mortified at the size. Other diners had turned to look. One lady even said “oh, excuse me, what did you order there, was that something special?” I said “No it’s on the menu, it’s the Grazers plate”
You could see the relief come over her, “oh” she replied, “thank goodness. I thought that was the dips plate and we’ve just ordered that.”

I really don’t know where to start with this. Everything was really really good. Hubby begged me to share it so I had to have a try. From the chicken, to the dip and salsa, everything was very tasty. I’m sure I ate most of that dip!
This dish was $32 which I think is very reasonable for the amount of food that you get!
Hubby noticed that one of the servers would glance over and snicker every time she came by. It might have been his imagination…
Despite his embarrassment, he really wasn’t sorry he’d ordered it, perhaps just sorry that there were witnesses!!

My burger looked huge. I was going to say equally huge but that wouldn’t be correct! I didn’t even know how I was going to eat it at first. I ended up taking the bacon out because (don’t be shocked) I’m not a bacon fan and that made it easier to eat.
It was really tasty and the ingredients and fillings seemed really fresh.
They really aren’t shy on portion size here!

It’s lucky that we came here during lunch and not later in the day. At least our bodies have time to metabolise the food somewhat before we go to bed.

Honestly I don’t know if it’s the football connection, the view of the oval, the large serves or hubby’s mortification but I loved coming here today and hope it won’t be too long before we visit again. I wonder if they’ll make that Grazing Plate dish to go?

Have you been to The Glenelg Club?
What did you think?
Let me know in the comments below!

Diners today we made a trip to St Francis Winery which is on Old South Rd at Reynella.
The website says the Winery was established around 1852 and if you’d like to know more about the history of the property I’d encourage you to have a look through their website.

As for us, we were just having lunch today although it is a perfectly picturesque place to have a wedding or other function. In fact, I must mention I remember coming here a few years ago when I was part of a female barberhop quartet and singing at one of those functions!

As you walk into the main dining area you get a feeling that you’re walking into an elegant room. On closer inspection you notice that perhaps it could do with a complete refurbishment. The furniture and carpets look a little dated but what this room does have going for it are the pretty green views from the large windows.

The staff were very courteous and guided us to a table. The menu had some really interesting things on there, including a share plate as part of their “specials” board, that had crocodile on there! Well we just had to try that!

From left we had Peking Duck shanks, Tempura soft shell crab, Salt and Pepper Crocodile and a Crispy Asian Salad. I guess the salad was under the Tempura soft shell crab.

What I loved about this share plate was that we got to try things we wouldn’t have normally eaten. Now I have had crocodile once before, and that was in Cairns. The crocodile on this dish was a much “chunkier” piece and I got to have a good taste. I remembered what I’d said about it the first time I’d eaten it. It seems to have a taste that’s in between seafood and meat. It’s not a tender meat, but it does have a slight seafood taste. It can be tough and stringy and yet there’s something pleasing about it also – That could have something to do with the way it was cooked and flavours that came with it but I really liked it.
The next thing I tried was the Peking Duck. I’m not sure what the “Peking” part actually means but these were cold slices. They tasted ok and as expected were very similar to chicken. It was just a little strange having a cold meat on a dish that had two other hot meats.
The Tempura soft shell crab was also interesting. I must admit it was a lot “mooshier” on the inside than I was expecting. I have no idea what it’s supposed to taste like, I can only comment on what I ate. It was cooked in a very crispy and tasty batter so I enjoyed it, but I can’t say I got to taste a lot of the crab.
The share plate came presented really nicely and again, I’m glad we ordered this and got to try a few things we normally wouldn’t have.

While we waited for our mains I saw other plates coming out, including a few dishes I’d been tossing up between and they looked really good!!! Everything coming out looked so pretty on the plate! I like that they place a lot of importance on presentation, without skimping on the size of the meal.

For main, hubby ordered from the specials board also. He picked the Beef Brisket.
I noticed this on the specials board too but couldn’t get past a bad experience we had with Beef Brisket at another establishment….
But look at how good it looks! Those vegetables especially!
I offered to trade one of my potatoes for one of those onions on hubby’s plate but he said no way.
He said the meat was tender and had a nice smoky flavour. The vegetables were a great accompaniment and the mash had a nice, subtle, garlic flavour.
I’d probably be more inclined to have this on a cold Winter’s night than a humid Summer day but still, he enjoyed what he had.

For main I chose the Atlantic Salmon
This Salmon had the best and most crispiest skin I’ve had since I started reviewing. It was really beautiful to eat. If it had been cooked any longer, the Salmon would have been in danger of being too dry but as it was, it was cooked well and had a beautiful colour and taste to it.
I’m not too sure what was on top of the salad but that was nice and fresh. The vegetables were crispy and gave the dish a nice colour variation!

I really liked the way we were treated by the wait staff too. They were present but not so much that it ruined your dining experience.

The one little negative, probably not worth mentioning but I will, was I tried the wine they recommended, and I can’t say I liked it – That’s kind of disappointing when you’re dining at a Winery however it was a minor thing.

Have you been to St Francis Winery?
What did you think?
Let me know in the comments below!